Illinois Valley Times

The offense was alive in Lubbock, Texas, as the Western Illinois baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader against Texas Tech. The Leathernecks tallied 25 hits combined over the two games.
 
Game 1
WIU's offense started quietly in the first game of the doubleheader. Kyree Alexander would get a base hit in the first and then swipe second base to give WIU an early opportunity, but he would not come across to score. Texas Tech jumped in front in the bottom half of the first as they used a bunt single, then a WIU passed ball, and finally an RBI double to take the early 1-0 lead. Texas Tech would add another run on a sac fly later that inning. 
 
The second inning saw WIU threaten with runners in scoring position again as Derek Botaletto would lead it off with a walk. Steven Walsh would follow that up with his first hit as a Leatherneck to put runners on first and second with zero outs. The Leathernecks would move both runners 90 feet on a double steal, but that is as far as they would get. Texas Tech would take advantage of WIU's mistakes in the second inning as they would strike for five runs and lead 7-0.
 
Nick Mitchell would get Western Illinois on the scoreboard as he would take a pitch and send it into orbit over the right field fence. Botaletto would get his second hit of the day as he sent a ball down the third base line for a stand-up double. WIU would be unable to get Botaletto around as they would go to the bottom of the third down 7-1. Jake Armstrong would keep Texas Tech quiet in the bottom of the frame as the senior would get a strike out to send the ball game to the fourth.
 
Once again, WIU would find a way to put their leadoff runners on as Jack Sievers would draw a leadoff walk. Max Slavens would follow that up with a single up the middle. After a sacrifice bunt by Peter Fusek advanced both runners, Mitchell would send a ball into left field deep enough to score Sievers, cutting the deficit to 7-2. Texas Tech would try to get some runs back in the fourth as they would have two of their first three batters reach base. Armstrong took care of the rest. The WIU pitcher executed a pick-off play at second, perfectly getting the Red Raiders lead runner for out number two. Armstrong would then get a ground ball to third base to end the inning.
 
The offense woke up in the fifth. Jake Allgeyer started it with a leadoff single, followed by a fielder's choice that saw Allgeyer and Adam Juran reach safely. Botaletto reached first on a Texas Tech error that would load the bases. After a Walsh strike out, Sievers drew a walk to walk in Allgeyer, making it a 7-3 ball game. With two out in the inning, Fusek would strike out, but the ball would get passed the catcher, and all the runners would advance, including Juran scoring. Nick Mitchell would follow that up with a free trip down to the first base on a walk to bring the score to 7-5. Alexander would have the first hit of the inning since Allgeyer led it out with a single up the middle to drive in Sievers. The Leathernecks would score four runs on just two hits taking advantage of two Texas Tech errors. Tech would respond in the bottom half, knocking in four runs to extend their lead back out to five. After sitting down WIU was in order in the sixth. Texas Tech would score four more runs in the sixth to push their lead to 15-6.
 
WIU would get a couple of runs back in the top half of the seventh as Nick Mitchell would send a line drive down the right field line for an RBI double, scoring Fusek. Brian Erbe would be the next batter as he would chop one back to the pitcher. The pitcher would airmail the first basemen allowing Mitchell to score from second to make it 15-8. Texas Tech would keep responding, scoring three in the bottom of the seventh and six in the eighth to take game one 24-9.
 
Nick Mitchell led WIU offense for the second day in a row, having three hits in four plate appearances. He would have four RBIs on the double, homerun, and sacrifice fly. Mitchell also scored two runs. Kyree Alexander, Jake Allgeyer, Adam Juran, and Derek Botaletto also had a multi-hit game. WIU stole four bases and walked four times.
 
Game 2
Game two saw the offense once again strike first. With two outs, Jake Allgeyer would single up the middle. J.R. Heavilin would then send a ball off the wall in left-center, scoring Allgeyer from first to give WIU the early 1-0 lead. Adam Juran would not let the train stop moving as he would lace a ball down the left field line and make it a 2-0 ball game. Tyler Kapraun would let up a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first but would retire the next three. WIU would be unable to get anything going in the top half of the second inning. Texas Tech would tie the game up in the bottom half as they would score two runs and knot the game at two. Pitching started to take over in the third as WIU was retired one, two, three, and Texas Tech got a runner to second but stranded him there. The fourth was the same thing. Both teams sent up four batters, having one person reach first base. 
 
With two out in the fifth, the offense woke back up. Nick Mitchell lined a ball down the right-field line that would go for a triple. Derek Botaletto would work a five-pitch walk that would give Allgeyer a chance to do some damage. Allgeyer would take an 0-1 pitch that was elevated in the zone and put it in the right center ally way. Mitchell and Botalleto would come around to score, as WIU would take the 4-2 lead. Texas Tech would respond with two walks to start the inning, and then a double would score one run. Tech would tie the ball game on a sacrifice fly, making WIU head to the bullpen. Cade Herrmann would take the ball in relief and come out throwing. Herrmann would strike out his first batter before retiring the eight guys he saw.
 
In the sixth, seventh, and eighth, WIU would get a runner on first base before a double play would wipe out a scoring chance. Texas Tech would strike again in the eighth after WIU gave up a leadoff walk. Texas Tech would take an 0-1 pitch, hit the top of the left-center fence, and bounce over for a two-run home run. Texas Tech would get two walks and an infield bunt single to load the bases with zero outs. Herrmann would get a strikeout and a huge 4-6-3 double play to get out of the jam.
 
In the ninth, WIU started quickly as Chase VanDerGinst subbed in to pinch hit and took the first pitch he saw over the left-center field fence to bring WIU within one. A pitch with two outs hit Ricky Pospisil, and Nick Mitchell would single, but Texas Tech would get Derek Botaletto to strike out for out number three as WIU would fall 6-5.
 
Nick Mitchell and Jake Allgeyer had three hits on the evening, with one being extra bases. Adam Juran was right behind with two hits, including a double. VanDerGinst had the lone homerun in the double header finale as he, Juran, Allgeyer, and Heavilin all had RBI's. Ricky Pospisil went 1-2 in his first start. He also drew a walk and was hit by a pitch.
 
 Original source can be found here.